13 the next Generation
by nwtp-dreamer
Summary: Evan tried to explain to his little sister Alexis that turning 13 was worse than a nightmare, but she refuses to believe him. Even though she deals with drama, parties, and a very large amount of bullying from a girl named Anna, Lucy's younger sister.
1. The Dare

Alexis stared in the mirror. "Great…," she thought to herself, "My very first zit." She moaned as she picked up the concealer. "Growing up sucks."

She picked up her hairbrush and started to fix her long, light brown hair. "I bet Evan didn't have to deal with things like this," she thought again, "I bet growing up for him was a lot better than this. He has Patrice, Brett, Malcolm; even ARCHIE is better then what I've got."

It was the middle of 7th grade, and Alexis Goldman was just about to turn thirteen. "This is the death year," her older brother Evan laughed. He had told her stories about when he had turned thirteen. When him and their mom had first moved to Indiana. However, Alexis had a hard time believing half of that stuff.

"Call it death all you want," she started to lie, "I'm going to make sure that my thirteenth year is the best year of my life."

Evan laughed and patted his younger sister's head. "Go ahead and try shorty. I dare you."

Alexis glared at him. "Fine then. I will." Then she turned around and headed out the door. "That hard head," she thought, "What makes year thirteen different from any other year anyway?"

She ran her finger over the pimple on her forehead and sighed. "Okay. Maybe that's it. But hey, perk up Lexi. You can prove Evan wrong. Just you wait"

She walked up to the bus stop and saw her friend, Pete, waiting there for her. "Morning Lex," he said happily.

Alexis threw her backpack down and walked up to him. "Morning. Hey can I copy the math homework really fast?"

Pete bit his bottom lip. "Math homework?" he asked nervously.

Alexis laughed "Oh, never mind then.

A few minutes later, the bus pulled up. Alexis looked up to see Anna smirking down at her. Anna was the most popular, and beautiful girl in the entire 7th grade. She was the younger sister of Evans "friend" Lucy. Evan said they were friends, but according to the stories he told, Lucy was a pretty mean girl and didn't like Evan at all. "Sister like sister," Alexis thought.

**-So this was my very first chapter of my very first fan fic. Sorry if its starting off a little boring.. I promise it'll get more exciting in later chapters **

**Please Review, it would mean a whole lot to me-**


	2. The Invitation

Alexis and Pete made their way across the halls. It was pretty much a normal day. Anna and her best friend Katie were making fun of some loser, the teachers were keeping close eyes on the trouble makers, and Alexis and Pete were on their way to class already wishing the day was over.

Alexis looked up at Pete and blushed. "He's so cute…" she thought. Pete had golden hair that was just below his ears, and deep green eyes that sparkled in the light. Pete looked down at her and smiled. "What's up? Thinking about the birthday?" Alexis's face turned bright red. "Y-yea. Yea that's it. It's just so weird you know? Thinking that I'll be a teenager in a little less than a week…"

She thought about handing out the invitations to the party today, but she figured she'd wait a little longer. But still, might as well get the word out. "I really hope you can come to my party," she said nervously.

"Why wouldn't I come? After all this is a huge tradition for you. I wouldn't miss it for the world."

Alexis blushed again. Pete was such a nice guy. If only she had the courage to ask him out. Alexis was so deep in her thoughts that she managed to bump into Anna, Knocking all of her things out of her hands.

"Watch where you're going pipsqueak!" Anna shouted.

Alexis clenched her fists. She knew she was short for her age, and that's what people used against her. Most people in the grade were at least six inches taller than her, saying she was only 4'8".

"It's not my fault you were standing in the way," Alexis grumbled under her breath.

Anna glared at her. "Did you just say something?"

"No," she replied while staring at the ground, "I didn't say anything. You must be hearing things."

Anna opened her mouth to reply, but then she just stopped and giggled. "Whatever. I'm not going to fight with a little kid. I'd rather fight someone my own size."

A burst of anger shot through Alexis. If she could, she would slap this jerk right across the face. Better yet, she would break her nose. "Then people would REALLY admire her looks," she thought.

Pete put a hand on Alexis's shoulder. "Easy…" he whispered. Alexis immediately calmed down, and Anna walked away laughing.

Pete and Alexis finally made it to class, and met up with Alexis's best friend Kat. "Mornin'!" she said in her southern accent. Kat had long, dark red hair and big blue eyes. She and Alexis had been best friends ever since Alexis had moved from New York.

"Good Morning!" Pete smiled. Alexis sat on the desk next to Kat and put her head on Kat's shoulder.

"I can't wait until were free," she moaned, "Free of stupid school full of stupid learning and stupid people."

Kat patted her friends head and looked up at Pete. "Anna get on her nerves again?"

Pete nodded. "She used the old 'I'd rather fight someone my own size' trick again."

Kat sighed. Poor Alexis, was Anna ever going to leave her alone? What did she have against her anyway? She lifted Alexis's chin so that she was looking up at her.

"Don't let her get to you sweetie," she said in attempt to cheer her friend up, "Your perfect just the way you are. She's just jealous because she's not a cutie pie like you."

Alexis pulled her head free and slumped in her chair. "Thanks for trying," she sighed, "But I heard you the first thousand times…"

Soon Katie and Anna walked into class. Anna smirked at Alexis before shouting out "Excuse me! Excuse me I have something to say!"

The entire class got quiet, and Katie stepped in front of Anna holding a bunch of bright pink envelopes. She swiped her light blonde hair out of her face. "These are invitations to my thirteenth birthday party. If I hand you one, you're coming and your expected to bring a bathing suit, your best dancing outfit, and of course a gift. If I don't hand you one, it simply means that you're not cool enough."

Alexis, Kat, and Pete all continued what they were doing before. Both Anna and Katie hated them; there was no way they'd get invited." After Anna had passed out all the invitations to everyone except to the three friends, both Katie and Anna walked up to them."

"Hey," Katie started. Alexis was confused. Was Katie here to invite them? She looked down at Anna's hands. There was only one invitation.

Anna smirked at Alexis, an evil smirk that she was very used to receiving. "Here you go Pete!" she said in a sweet voice, "This is for you! Be at Katie's place at 5 sharp this Saturday!"


	3. The Friends

Alexis paced around her room with a hard look of concentration and fear. "They invited Pete! Pete! Of all people!"

Kat sat on the nearby bed watching her friend. Alexis took long strides from wall to wall, without a single change of expression. "Stop pacing Hun, before you hurt yourself," Kat instructed calmly. Alexis suddenly stopped pacing and sat on the floor, her expression still unchanging. She put her head in her hands.

Kat jumped off the bed next to Alexis and put an arm around her. "Now sugar cube you gotta stop worrying so much," she sighed, "Pete is our best friend, and you know he hates Anna and Katie just as much as you do. He probably won't even go."

Alexis put her chin down to her knees. "I guess you're right," she mumbled.

"Plus he probably knows as well as I do that Anna just invited him to get to you. And you're doing a pretty good job of giving her what she wants."

Anna sighed. Kat was right, if that was Anna's plan, it defiantly worked. Alexis was a mess ever since Anna gave Pete that stupid invitation. She was thinking about it so much that she tripped, ran into things, misheard people, she even walked right into Anna's leg, and she wiped out right in the middle of the hallway. She put her face back into her hands. "This is a nightmare," she sobbed.

Kat hugged her friend. "Dang it Anna," she thought, "Would you give the girl a break? Just once? What did the poor thing ever do to you?"

She looked down at Alexis. Her cheeks were red from soft crying. Her light freckles became more noticeable. Kat had a look of concern, and she hugged Alexis tighter. She didn't know how much of Anna the poor little thing could take. However, judging by Alexis's constant crying and locking herself in her room, it wouldn't be long before she cracked.

Pete walked home in silence. Alexis wasn't there to accompany him today, but he guessed it was for the better. She had been acting awfully strange. Maybe Anna was finally getting to her. He pulled out the birthday invitation he had received earlier that day. Why on earth did Katie invite him to her birthday? She hated him and his friends. Why him and not Kat and Alexis?

Now that he really thought about it, Anna did give Alexis quite a look before giving him the invitation, and Alexis started acting strange right after that. Was this another attempt to mess with her?

He sighed. He and Kat felt the same way about this, and they often had meetings about it. Poor Alexis would crack anytime now. Anna really needed to stop this and let the girl get on with her life.

The part that annoyed Pete the most was that the only ones who knew anything about this was the three of them, Anna, and Katie. No one ever took the time to notice Alexis, so most people barley know she exists. Alexis refuses to tell her family, especially her brother Evan. She said something about wanting to prove him wrong. Then she swore both Pete and Kat into secrecy so her family would have no way of finding out.

Pete sighed and shoved the invitation back in his bag. It wasn't a very good idea to go to this party. He looked up to see Kat walking toward him. She must have come back from Alexis's house. Her hands were in her pockets. "How is she?" Pete asked her quietly.

"Not very good, it's only a matter of time now. She just locked herself up in her room again."

"Dang it. Why won't she talk to anybody about it?"

"I really don't know. But she has her reasons for everything. For all we know she could've been threatened."

Kat shivered at the thought. She really needed Alexis to tell her more. She couldn't stand the thought of her best friend getting hurt. Sure she and Pete knew what was going on, but there were a lot of details they didn't know. Like why Anna does it, and what Anna says to her while their alone. Shed tried in all her power to make sure someone was with Alexis at all times around Anna, but when Evan and Anna's older sister Lucy got together, there wasn't much Kat could do about it.


	4. The Plan

Alexis blinked and then rubbed her eyes. She looked at her clock. 1:17 A.M. She had fallen asleep on her bedroom floor. She tried to remember what had happened.

"Let's see…," she started thinking, "I came home, Kat was with me. Mom started questioning me about the look on my face; Kat made up an excuse and dragged me to my room. I ranted for a while then started crying, Kat tried to cheer me up, but I said I wanted to be alone… then what?"

She stood up and looked out her window. It was a clear night with the stars shining brightly. She thought about Anna giving Pete that invitation. Kat was probably right, it was probably just another trick to mess with me. But what if Pete did go to the party? She shook her head in doubt. He would never betray her like that.

She looked over to Pete's house. She noticed the light on in his bedroom window. She squinted to try to get a better look. He was on the phone with someone. He picked up the invitation and read it out loud, then shook his head and threw it away. That made her feel better.

She turned around and landed face first on her bead. The lights had been on the entire time, but she didn't mind. Not bothering with the lights, she threw the covers over her head and went to sleep.

Pete glanced up. Alexis was gone. He rolled his chair back to his window and looked out at her house. She was in her bed now, fast asleep already, but the lights were still on. "Well, she didn't do anything that would make you think she was threatened," he said into the phone. Kats voice came out of the receiver.

"Well I wasn't expecting much really. I mean, what would you do if you woke up on the floor at one in the morning?"

"Just go to bed I guess, but that still doesn't change what I'm thinking Kat."

"I know, but you have to give the girl her space. Trust me I've known her a lot longer than you have."

"That's what worries me the most. She wants too much space. She thinks she can handle everything alone when it's obvious she can't!"

"Yea, she's a stubborn one alright. But be patient. She'll realize she needs help soon enough. But for now, keep quiet and try to keep her out of trouble as best as you can. Without getting too obvious."

Pete sighed. He wished that Alexis would just let him help so he wouldn't have to keep it a secret like this. He glanced over at the invitation in his garbage, and then shrugged. "Why do you think they invited me to that party anyway?" he asked for the third time that day,

"Alexis thinks of you as a really close friend Pete," she replied, leaving out the part about the crush, "If you went to that party, she would feel completely betrayed. Who knows what she would do, and I think that's what Anna was getting at."

Pete thought about it again. I guess if it would've been Alexis who had gotten invited, he would feel betrayed too, more worried than betrayed though. That's when he had an idea.

"Kat, I think I'm actually going to go to that party," he said excitedly.

"WHAT?" Kat screamed, "DID YOU NOT HEAR A WORD I JUST SAID?"

"No Kat, I heard you. But I have a plan. First, we have to make sure that Alexis doesn't find out I'm going."

With that, he continued to explain the rest of his plan to Kat.


End file.
